This chapter's got some tension/horror, but it's mostly hurt and comfort between friends.

What Are Friends For?

When Josh got the news one of his sisters had been found alive, he dropped everything from his college and rushed to the hospital immediately. He hadn't even bothered to notify his professors, he'd do that when he made sure Beth was okay. While he never gave up hope, deep down he knew the chances of either of them surviving for a month were slim to none, but that didn't matter now, because Beth had survived. A literal miracle had occurred, and Josh wasn't about to take it for granted. Nothing else mattered but seeing his sister. His parents were out of the country on business, for his father was working on a new project. As soon as they were informed their daughter was alive if not exactly well, they boarded the soonest flight back to the states. Still, it'd be a while before they arrived. Josh himself wasn't exactly in the area when he got the call, so it took him a bit to get to the hospital. When he finally arrived, he saw one of his best friends had already beat him there, someone who cared about Beth's well-being almost as much as he did. Outside the hospital entrance stood Sam, who was looking pretty impatient, as if waiting for someone else to show up. When she saw Josh, her eyes lit up and she ran over to him.

"Josh, good, you're here," she said frantically.

"What's going on? Is my sister okay?!" Josh asked, not bothering to question how Sam had heard. He was happy someone cared enough about Beth to rush over even quicker than him, but there were more important matters to worry about.

"I don't know, they won't let me in," Sam said, obviously annoyed.

"What? Why?"

"She's in the emergency wing, its family members only. They won't let me see her!"

Josh ran past her without another word through the hospital doors. Sam turned to follow. Josh almost crashed right into the check in desk that was right in front of the door. The nurse jumped at his sudden entrance.

"I need to see Beth Washington, right now. I'm her brother!"

"Can I see some ID?" asked the nurse, clearly the kind to give someone a hard time.

"Are you fucking serious?! My sister's in there!"

"Sir, its hospital rules, I can't just let anyone inside."

Josh didn't have time to argue, scrambling with his wallet and forking over his driver's license. "There, that good enough for you?"

The nurse took a half glance at it, "She's through those doors," she said pointing. "A doctor will be able to help you from there."

Josh broke away from the desk, wasting no time.

"I'm not going anywhere Josh! I'll be right here!" Sam called after him. She turned back to the nurse, giving her a dirty look. "Cause apparently friends aren't worth crap around here."

"Miss, I'm just doing my job."

"Yeah, well, your job is being an asshole."


Beth laid in the hospital bed, unconscious, and hooked up to a lot of equipment, including a breathing mask. On one hand, Josh was overjoyed to see his sister again, and alive at that. Still, Josh was a nervous wreck. He wasn't sure what half of all this stuff was for, but none of it looked good.

"Is she gonna be ok? Please tell me she's gonna be ok," he asked the doctor.

"She's stable. She's not in critical condition or anything, but she was dehydrated and starved, lots of injuries, mostly minor a few broken bones, but overall she should be fine in time, but she's been missing for over a month, so we'd like to keep her here for at least a bit to make sure. The forest rangers found her conscious, but she fainted due to exhaustion. She's been unconscious for several hours."

Josh looked to Beth, a relieved, yet worried look in his eyes. The strong girl he knew was now in a helpless, fragile condition. It wasn't a state he was used to seeing her in, and certainly not one he liked. The worst part was, Hannah was still out there.

"You should know how lucky she is, but I did want to talk to you about some of these injuries. They're not particularly serious, but...they're rather concerning."

"Why?"

"She's got multiple stab wounds, particularly one in her left shoulder. It happened a while ago and hasn't been treated, so it's infected. The flesh of her right arm has also been torn open by teeth. At first we thought it was a wild animal, but the bite marks on her skin were undoubtedly human."

"W-what does that mean?" Josh asked, obviously disturbed.

The doctor struggled a bit with how to word this, "I can only imagine it means someone was, well, trying to eat her arm. It's not uncommon for stranded, desperate individuals to resort to cannibalism, but, as far as we're aware, she was only with one person."

"A-are you trying to tell me that Hannah tried to eat her twin sister?"

"I don't want to alarm you."

"No, no way," Josh said, shaking his head. "She would never do that to Beth. No way."

"We could discuss this later, I imagine it'd be easier when Beth wakes up. Although, the forest rangers did mention amnesia, so I don't know how much she remembers, if anything. I think we should give her time to rest."

"I'm not leaving," Josh said, plopping himself down in a chair next to her bed. "I'm waiting right here until she wakes up."

"We have no idea when that will be, sir."

"I got all day."


Hours passed without Beth even making a stir, but Josh never left her side for a moment. Then, at around six pm, Beth Anna Washington returned to the realm of the living. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, the world in a drug induced daze. She felt like she had been sleeping for days, and for all she knew she had. Everything in her mind was nothing but a blur. She was lucky to remember who she was, let alone what happened. A groggy groan got Josh's attention, who looked up to see his sister turn her head, trying to figure out where she was.

"Beth? Beth?" Josh rushed to her side, desperate to speak to his sister.

She met his gaze, the figure in front of her not totally clear, but she knew that voice anywhere. "Josh?" she asked weakly, an immense wave of comfort rushing over her "What's going on, where's Hannah?" she asked, not remembering a thing.

"It's okay Beth, you're in the hospital, they found you, everything's gonna be fine."

"Hospital? Did something happen to me?" Beth asked obliviously, holding her hand to her head, immediately alarmed when she saw the vast amount of bandages encasing her limb. "What the hell happened to my arm? Why does my shoulder hurt so much?"

"You don't really remember anything do you?" Josh realized. His hope to get some answers from his sister had been dashed.

Beth shook her head, "Is everyone still at the cabin?"

"Uh...no. Beth," he answered, chuckling a bit, "that was a month ago."

Beth's eyes widened, "A...a month?!"

"Happy New Year," Josh joked awkwardly, hoping to lighten the mood.

Beth wasn't in the mood for jokes. "Wait, have I been in a coma for a month?!"

"No, Beth, you've been missing. You ran after Hannah into that snowstorm after the prank the guys pulled, and Sam said you guys fell off a cliff. You've been missing since then."

"A cliff?! Wait, wait, where's Hannah, Josh?"

"I'm sorry sis, but Han's still missing. They only found you. And...honestly, that was a miracle."

"What are you saying?" Beth asked, but she could guess where this was going, she just didn't want to believe it.

Josh struggled, not great in serious situations like this. "Hannah's...Hannah's probably gone, Beth."

Beth just stared at her brother, understandably horrified. Her sister, dead? All that comfort was suddenly gone. "She's dead?! Hannah's dead?! No!" Beth tried to sit up, immediately regretting it when she felt the sharp pain. She cried and slumped back in the bed, grasping at her shoulder. Josh went to help, but a nurse rushed in when he heard the scream, going over to Beth's side to help.

"She's awake," said Josh.

"I can see that," the nurse replied sarcastically, "Ma'am, none of your injuries are life threatening, but you can't just lift yourself like that. You're malnourished, and you're injured. You have to take it easy."

Beth nodded weakly, sinking back down into her bed, a pained expression on her face. "I don't understand," she asked helplessly, wanting to cry. "How is Hannah dead? What happened? What happened to us?!"

"We don't know Beth. I'm sorry."

"No, No!" Beth yelled, enraged at herself for not being able to remember. "Hannah can't be dead! She can't!"

Josh stared powerlessly at his crying sister, wanting to help, but not knowing how. She had quickly turned hysterical. Every time she tried to move another part of her body a sharp pain shot through her.

"You need to leave," The nurse said, tending to Beth.

"What? I can't leave her!"

"I know you love her, but you're causing her a lot of stress right now. She needs to calm down, and she needs to rest."

Josh hated it, but the nurse was right. Josh was just upsetting his sister anymore, and he hated himself for it. "Okay...I'll be right here Beth, Sam is here too, we're gonna help you get through this."

Beth hardly heard him as he left the room, consumed in her confused grief. "Hannah..."

Josh was escorted back to the waiting room, where Sam had been waiting all this time as well. Josh's best friend, Chris, had shown up too. He was worried about Beth of course, but he was largely there for Josh. Josh and Sam had been getting close since his sisters vanished, but Josh had known Chris since grade school.

"Oh, hey man," Josh said, a little shocked to see him here.

"Yeah, I just figured that—."

"How is she?" Sam butted in. She had been waiting here for hours with no contact, she wanted answers.

"She's awake, but she's not doing too great."

"Is she gonna die?!" Sam asked, horrified.

"No, she's hysterical. She couldn't remember anything, so I told her what happened, and it sent her into this crying frenzy. I think I just made this shit a lot worse," Josh said sitting down, frustrated with himself.

"Oh god, poor Beth," Sam said, looking solemnly at the emergency doors. "I can't imagine what she's going through."

"Still, this is really good news," Chris reminded them. "Beth is alive, guys. She's okay, well, kind of okay. That means Hannah could be alive too. I mean, it still sucks, but, there's hope, ya know?"

"It's bittersweet, you mean," Sam helped him out.

"Yeah, that."

Then someone came out of the women's bathroom and headed their way. Josh caught her face out of the corner of his eye.

Ashley.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Josh stood up, still mad about the prank that had caused so much damage.

"She was with me when I got the news, we came together," Chris answered, "She's really sorry man, she never—."

"Listen man, I think it's great you're spending time with Ashley, I know you dig her, but I don't think I want her here man, I can't look at her right now," Josh said.

Ashley now came within earshot.

"Josh, come on, it's not her fault, it wasn't even her idea."

"I'm sorry man, this is all just too much. One of my sister's is an emotional wreck, and the other one's probably dead, and its cause of this fucking prank. I'm sorry dude, I know you like her, I know she's like your best friend, and she's my friend too, but I don't want her here. I'm sorry."

"I told you you shouldn't have brought her here Chris," Sam said, crossing her arms.

"You too Sam? Seriously?"

"Josh," came Ashley's voice now, standing awkwardly, having heard all that ill talk of her.

They all became silent, looking to Ashley now.

"I'm so sorry Josh."

Josh sighed, "It's not me you should be apologizing to Ash...but, I don't hate you, I just can't look at you right now, as fucked up as that sounds."

"No, I totally get it, I'll go, but, uh," Ashley struggled, taking a note out from her pocket. "Do you think you could give this to Beth? I wrote it on the way here. Ever since that day I've felt like total shit guys, and I know I can't see her, and I know she doesn't wanna see me, but please, I want her to know how sorry I am. Please give this to her." Ashley pleaded, holding out the note to Josh. "Can you do that, please?"

Josh took the note, "Yeah, I can do that. Thanks Ash, I know you're sorry. The others apologized to me too, but, I definitely think you're sincere, but still, I'd like if you left."

"I'd like it too," Sam said under her breath.

Ashley hung her head.

"Sam, come on, stop it already," Chris said, honestly shocked at Sam's hostility. He had never known her to be so confrontational, but ever since Hannah and Beth disappeared, she was pretty hostile to everyone who had something to do with the prank, including Ashley.

"Hannah was her best friend Chris, give her a break," said Josh.

"You're the ones who need to give her a break," Chris defended Ashley.

"I'm so sorry," Ashley said, sniffling.

Chris went over to Ashley, "If she goes, I go."

"Then I guess you better go," Josh said simply.

Chris stared at Josh, disbelieving. "Seriously dude? I thought we were friends."

"We are man, but I just can't deal with this crap right now. I'm sorry, but Beth isn't the only one who's a mental trainwreck," Josh replied honestly. "You should leave and be with Ashley, I think she needs your help more than I do."

"Fine, whatever," Chris said, taking Ashley's hand, "Come on Ash."

The two left the hospital together, leaving Sam and Josh alone in the waiting room. Well, them and a room of strangers who had just witnessed a good amount of drama.

"You think we were too hard just now?" asked Josh, feeling guilty.

"I don't know," Sam said sighing, turning to sit down. "I feel like such a jerk, but I'm so mad at them," she said honestly. "I just can't let it go."

"Me neither," Josh said, sitting down next to her.

"Hopefully Beth will get better, and maybe we could put all this behind us. You think your sister will be able to forgive them?"

"I don't know," Josh said honestly, looking at the emergency doors where his sister was being treated. "She was really upset. It's gonna be a long time before any of this gets better."

Sam was silent for a moment, thinking about all the pain and worry that went into the last month. When Beth was found, it was a brief respite, but it wasn't over. Hannah was still gone, and Beth was far from okay. She had lost her twin, her second half, someone who she had been with since birth. That kind of pain never really goes away.

"It will get better, won't it?" Sam asked, not so sure of herself.

"Yeah Sammy, course it will," Josh said, putting her arm around her. He immediately realized it might have come off as weird, but Sam didn't seem to mind. "We'll all get through this together."

Sam was tired. Emotional strain was always the worst kind. She leaned against Josh, resting her head. "I think we're gonna be here all day."

"Yeah...me too."


So please don't ask me how
I ended up at my wits end and breaking down.
Pages torn from books we never read,
'Cause we're plugged into this grid.
Don't pull this plug right now,
Or then we really have to live.

The rest of the day passed by, and the night fell. Inside the emergency room, Beth had calmed down, but she couldn't sleep. She had been lying in this bed for hours wide awake, unable to think of anything but Hannah. They hadn't let Josh back in all day. Beth was in the dark room all by herself, just her and her thoughts. Beth had no idea what happened to Hannah, but she felt like somehow she was to blame for it. She had a damning pain stabbing at her heart, and she didn't even know what it was from.

She turned to reach for her glass of water, and that's when she saw her for the first time. A bloodied figure stood by her bed, looming over her like a hungry vulture. Beth screamed and fell out of bed, ripping herself free of the hospital equipment, the pain not even registering as shocked horror took over. The ghostly figure was in tattered clothes, eyes missing from the sockets, pale and decomposed.

"Hannah?!" Beth panicked, backing away from her undead sister.

Hannah descended on her terrified sister, trembling in the corner. "No! No! Stop! I'm sorry!" she cried, not even knowing what she was apologizing for.

The door suddenly burst open, a nurse entering the room due to the screaming. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Beth ignored the nurse, running past him out of the room, trying to escape from Hannah.

"Hey, wait! No!"

The nurse called for security as Beth dashed down the hall, not knowing where she was going, but around every corner she went, wherever she turned around, was Hannah. She couldn't get away.

By now Beth's frantic cries had woken up half the hospital, including Sam, who had crashed there for the night with Josh. Sam rubbed her hand, getting up from the chair she had fallen asleep in. Josh was a heavy sleeper, and she left him sitting there like a lump.

"What is that?" Sam asked, walking into the open. She faced the emergency doors, where the screams were coming from, and getting louder.

Was she dreaming right now?

Suddenly a figure burst through the doors, collapsing in a heap on the hospital floor, sobbing and very much in pain.

"Beth?!" Sam yelled, recognizing her immediately. She scrambled over to her fallen friend, trying to help. She sat on the floor, taking hold of her. "Beth?" This was the first time Sam had seen her in a month. It wasn't the best first impression.

"Hannah..." was all Beth could get out, visibly exhausted, not even recognizing her friend.

"Hannah, what about Hannah?" asked the concerned Sam, realizing something was very wrong with Beth.

Security wasn't far behind, they had been stupidly chasing Beth, which just made her panic and flee more. They arrived at the doorway, looking over the two girls.

Beth went limp in Sam's arms, passing out from sheer exhaustion.

"Beth? Oh god, Beth," Sam said tearfully, holding her tight. "Whatever this is, we're gonna help you through it. I swear."

Sam held Beth in her arms until security made her let go and step away. Sam watched painfully as they carried the fainted Beth through the doors, out of her reach once more.

Your words won't save me now.
I'm at the edge feeling the sweat drip from my brow.
Get a grip on yourself is what they say,
Every hour every day.
Hands over my ears,
I've been screaming all these years!

-Lyrics taken from Rise Against, Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated